Mexico Open at Vidanta: New course set to suit powerhouse Champ

Tournament History

The Mexico Open has been in existence since it debuted at Chapultepec (the venue for the now defunct WGC - Mexico Championship) in 1944.

Having previously featured on the Tour de las Américas, the Korn Ferry Tour, and even the European Challenge Tour, it became PGA Tour Latinoamérica event in 2013 and this year it's been elevated to become an official PGA Tour event for the very first time.

As a standalone PGA Tour event, the winner will receive 500 FedEx Cup points, a place in the 2023 US Masters, next month's US PGA Championship, and a spot in both the 2023 edition of the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Players Championship.

Venue

The Norman Signature Course, Vidanta Vallarta, Vallarta, Mexico.

Course Details

Par 71, 7456 yards

Although situated around a mile form the Pacific Ocean and the Banderas Bay, the Norman Signature Course doesn't look like a typical coastal track.

The 2015 Greg Norman design, which is staging the event for the first time, winds along the banks of the Ameca River providing views of the Sierra Madres from every hole.

It's a long, flat track with wide fairways and very little rough. The entire course is blanketed by Platinum paspalum and water is in-play on as many as 14 holes.

The greens, which will be set to 12 on the Stimpmeter, are undulating and protected by large bunkers, of which there are 106 in total.

Indigenous trees, native grasses and jungle surround the core course layout which is reached via the world's longest golf cart suspension bridge spanning the Ameca River from Nayarit to Jalisco.

Weather Forecast

TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting with Red Button coverage at 13:45 on Thursday

What Will it Take to Win the Mexico Open at Vidanta?

We're obviously in the dark to a large extent but given it's a long track with very little rough, I suspect the big hitters to prosper.

All bar one of the par fours are lengthy and the one that is shorter, the drivable seventh, should also favour those that can give it a good biff off the tee.

Is There an Angle In?

Norman is also responsible for a couple of other courses on the PGA Tour - the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio which hosted the recent Valero Texas Open - and more potently, he also designed El Camaleon, which is the host venue for the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.

Like the Norman Signature Course here, El Camaleon is a paspalum track situated on the Mexican coast so that may well be our best angle in, although there are other paspalum tracks used on the PGA Tour.

Both the Puerto Rico Open and the Corales Puntacana R & C Championship are paspalum tracks and last year's US PGA Championship was staged at Kiawah Island - another track with paspalum fairways and greens.

The now defunct CIMB Classic was staged on a paspalum track and quite a few quality players attend the Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, which is yet another Paspalum track.

Market Leaders

Given all the unknowns, and given his current poor form, Jon Rahm looks short enough at around 5/1.

He has a decent record when dropped in class on the DP World Tour but as the tweet below highlights, he hasn't been great in lower grade events of late.

Jon Rahm's starts in last two years with a strength of field lower than 400:

14th AmEx
MC Fortinet
MC Andalucia Masters
17th Open de Espana
38th Byron Nelson

? Andy Lack (@adplacksports) April 25, 2022

We haven't seen him in action since he finished a disappointing 27th in the US Masters so the break may have done him a bit of good but I'm more than happy to leave him out.

Gary Woodland has been understandably well backed. He's shown up on paspalum tracks a number of times and he's been in reasonable form this year, with a pair of fifth placed finishes at the Honda Classic and the Arnold Palmer Invitational the highlights.

Mexico's Abraham Ancer and Tony Finau both have form at the Saudi Invitational and at El Camaleon but Ancer's lack of length off the tee is off-putting and Finau has been so out of form of late that he's slipped from a high of ninth at the end of last season to 25th in the Official World Rankings.

Selections

I'm being even more cautious than usual before the off here but I have backed two players - Cameron Champ and Davis Riley.

Champ is now injury-free and if his top-ten finish in the US Masters is anything to go by, where he ranked second for Greens In Regulation, he could be winning again soon.

The 26-year-old has already won three times on the PGA Tour and this track should be ideal for him given how far he hits it off the tee. He currently ranks number one for Driving Distance on the PGA Tour - averaging a whooping 321 yards!

Davis Riley isn't as long as Champ but he still averages 304 yards off the tee and his best performance on the PGA Tour came at the Valspar Championship at the Copperhead Course last month - another track that has an unusual layout containing five par threes.

Riley finished fourth last week in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Will Zalatoris so he comes into the week in fair form and I thought 70.069/1 was fair for someone that looks destined to win soon.

Selections:
Cameron Champ @ 60.059/1
Davis Riley @ 70.069/1

I'll be back tomorrow with the Find me a 100 Winner column.

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter